Markus J. Becker

ARTIST STATEMENT

b 1978 Saarlouis, Germany. Lives and works in Berlin.

traces in structure
The title “traces in structure” is a first indication of the organic synthesis of architecture and abstract art, a connection which the Berlin-based designer and graphic artist Markus Johannes Becker strives for in his ink drawings. Organic, because they do not reach a final state, but rather evince a living shape that can evolve in numerous ways, depending on the viewer’s perception. The compositions oscillate between “traces” and “structure”, between dynamic and static, between chaos and order. It is important to keep in mind that both poles are dependent on each other: chaos is uninhabitable. It requires form, structure and design. At the same time, however, any type of order needs traces of chaos to allow room for development; chaos is order’s creative power. On close observation, the drawings reveal axes, volumes and patterns which seem to dissolve in detail and then regroup to form new shapes. This process offers numerous, potentially endless combinations and continues in the observer’s imagination.

Each image’s layout is defined by thin lines which mark out surfaces and empty spaces, almost like a floor plan. A line shapes, structures and separates. Every line is applied to the surface with a thin brass rod and ink. During application, little droplets of ink roll off the metal, leaving gaps which are in turn emphasised by fine, rapidograph-drawn lines. Almost like notes on a sheet of music, they turn into a score. When the lines join up or intersect, they create surfaces and axes – the score begins to sound. This is the foundation for a second creative level: every surface is individually masked with tape, thereby creating straight, angular and inflexible shapes. Shades of colour, brush and printing techniques then lend a three-dimensional, almost haptic quality to the surface of the seemingly rigid overall structure.

The contrast of lines, fine dashes, straight edges, soft colour gradients and various surface structures evoke a fragmented and deconstructed landscape, in which the viewer picks their own perspective. The choice of materials – ink and rapidograph on matt, translucent drawing film emphasises this effect and gives the drawings a certain fragility. It is in the repetition and evolution of lines and surfaces that the search for structure, form and character continues.